The present invention relates generally to computer graphics and animation, and more particularly to systems and methods for rendering a crowd of characters in an animation scene.
Currently, 3D animation systems are used to generate visual effects. Massive is an example of a 3D animation system for generating crowd-related visual effects for film and television. Using Massive, a user such as an animator or technical director designs characters with a set of reactions responsive to what is going on around them. The reactions of the characters determine what those characters do and how they do it. Their reactions can even simulate emotive qualities such as bravery, weariness, or joy. The agent reactions can control key-framed or motion captured animation clips called actions. Characters that perform on their own in this way are referred to as agents. Massive is a system for designing and running such agents. When scaled up into the hundreds, thousands or hundreds of thousands, the interaction within the crowd that emerges from these individuals can be highly realistic. By building variation into an agent, the Massive artist can populate a scene with individuals who are unique in everything from physical appearance to how they respond.
One technical challenge in animated films involving a large number of characters in a crowd, such as crowds of humans and robots in Wall E, is creating believable physics for the crowds of humans and robots. In numbers as high as ten thousand or more, crowd agents may participate in a variety of scenarios ranging from the fantastical “tilting” of a spaceship to the rapid flight of robots through winding halls and corridors. Many of these shots feature crowds as the foreground elements, and require a high level of dynamic interaction between crowd agents and each other, as well as with their environments. On its own, Massive or similar systems may not create satisfactory dynamic interactions between crowd agents, or realistic physical movement of agents in complex environments.
Therefore it is desirable to provide systems and methods that overcome the above and other problems.